This entry is our analysis of a study considered particularly relevant to improving outcomes from drug or alcohol interventions in the UK. The original study was not published by Findings; click Title to order a copy. Free reprints may be available from the authors – click prepared e-mail. Links to other documents. Hover over for notes. Click to highlight passage referred to. Unfold extra text The Summary conveys the findings and views expressed in the study. Below is a commentary from Drug and Alcohol Findings.

Bearn J., Swami A., Stewart D. et al.,Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment: 2009, 36, p. 345–349.Unable to obtain a copy by clicking title? Try asking the author for a reprint by adapting this prepared e-mail or by writing to Dr Bearn at jenny.bearn@slam.nhs.uk. You could also try this alternative source.

From south London, one of only a handful of randomised studies trialling acupuncture for opiate detoxification adds to the accretion of 'ineffective' verdicts, raising the question of why the treatment continues to be popular.

Summary The issue addressed in the study was whether supplementing a standard inpatient methadone-based detoxification with acupuncture would 'add value' by further relieving craving and the severity of withdrawal symptoms. Standard treatment at the specialist unit in London was based on stabilisation on methadone then reducing doses over 10 to 14 days. Total stays were intended to last four weeks. For the study, 82 opiate dependent patients
provided data
Another 11 were randomly allocated but later withdrew their consent to participate in the study.
after being randomly assigned to receive
ear acupuncture
Treatment was administered by qualified acupuncturists, trained to the same national standards, from the Gateway Clinic, the only traditional Chinese medicine clinic in the UK funded by the National Health Service to treat drug addiction.
daily for two weeks during their stay, or instead to undergo a similar procedure involving attaching clips to the ear. Patients were told that this too was an active treatment, though as far as was known it did not have nor was it intended to have any impacts on withdrawal severity or craving. Daily measures of withdrawal severity and craving were taken using standard questionnaires. Urine screening was used as an objective assessment of treatment adherence. On none of the 14 days nor over the entire fortnight were there statistically significant differences between patients allocated to 'real' acupuncture and the 'sham' treatment. Such statistically insignificant differences as there were favoured the 'sham' treatment, in the last few days of which patients experienced slightly less intense craving and withdrawal symptoms than acupuncture patients during the same period. The authors commented that the results are consistent with the findings of other studies which failed to find any effect of acupuncture in the treatment of drug dependence. They expressed concern that despite negative research findings, acupuncture continues to be widely seen as an effective intervention by workers and patients.

The 'ineffective' verdict on acupuncture extends to the treatment of cocaine dependence, while an attempt to replicate earlier positive findings in the treatment of alcohol dependence using a more definitive research design found no benefits in terms of drinking reductions and worse retention. Overall an exhaustive search for relevant studies concluded that there was little evidence that acupuncture improved alcohol treatment completion or outcomes.

Thanks for their comments on this entry in draft to Jennifer Bearn, Michael Gossop and John Witton of the National Addiction Centre in London and Russ Hayton from the Plymouth Drug and Alcohol Action Team. Commentators bear no responsibility for the text including the interpretations and any remaining errors.